This is a crazy amount of oil I'm burning through.

2011, 64,500 miles. It seems to me I'm burning a half a quart every 500 miles. I just changed my oil about 750 miles ago. I've already added a half quart and I just checked it and its 3/4 full. So another 250 miles, I'll need another 1/4 quart.

I'm not burning oil out the muffler or anything and I have an epoxy floor garage so I don't see any puddles on there either. I would say I am amazed and I just want to make sure there isn't some other kind of problem that could cause this. Car runs good and is a pocket rocket so maybe I can blame my driving habits?

 

What flavor oil are you using?

hold your hand an inch away from the exhaust pipe while running at idle for a minute or two (after driving the car -- not first start of the day) -- does the exhaust feel dry or oily?

 

2009 MCS.

At 134K mikes, I had engine work done because of failed timing chain. Engine work that was done was new valves, remove pistons & replace compression and oil control rings, hone cylinder walls.

I also had a bunch of other stuff done, but I think the replacement piston rings is what reduced the oil consumption. I also replaced valve cover, new vacuum pump, water pump, and replaced leaking oil filter housing gaskets.

I now have 147K miles on car and change oil every 5K mikes. Since 134K mikes, my oil consumption is (i.e.. I add 1/2 quart of oil every 2.5K miles. Oil I currently use is Castrol Syntec 5w-40.

Good luck,

W

 

I'm running Castrol Syntec 5w-30. No oily feel at exhaust from what I can tell...feels like hot air.

I don't see any oil leaks...maybe they are there and I just haven't found them yet. I haven't owned the car very long. Hard to believe there is a compression problem. It has no problem starting-only 65 K. Car idles fine and runs like a bat out of hell when you press the pedal.

 

Last oil change on N18 engine was low 0.5 quart at 4000 miles

 

I have an NA engine and use about a quart of Castrol 5-40 every 1000 miles. I did just fix a few leaks so perhaps a little less than that. I may move to a high mileage oil next

 

I'm thinking the same thing on the high mileage oil given the oil burn I'm seeing.
It sounds like I'm on the higher end.

This is my first oil change, so it is possible that it was a little bit lower than I thought when I filled it and the filter used up a bunch more. I'm basically at 5 full quarts now with 1/4 quart low after about 600 miles.

 

I have a 2010 cooperS and am using a little over 1 qt every 2000 miles. I am using Castrol full synthetic 5W30.
mgg

 

I have had many cars over past 30 years. My experience is that some use oil and some don’t. If there is a leak, fix it. If not and it is less than a quart per 1000 miles, I will let it go. More use than that and I start thinking of valves or rings and start with a compression and leak down test.

 

I'm on my 2nd 2008 S and both engines have used a lot of oil. I installed a Catch-Can which catches some of the oil that comes through the intake manifold on its way to the turbo. These engines have always used a lot of oil and I think that it's the nature of the engine design. My spark plugs are normal light brown so I think the intake manifold and valves are caked up with carbon. I will do a walnut shell blast on the intake manifold which should reduce the amount of oil I use. I switched from Castrol 5W 30 Liqui Moly - 5W 40 and it made little difference in the amount of oil I use. These engines run hot in the 220 - 225+ range which may have to do with the EPA emissions requirement. I use 1+ quarts for 800 - 1000 miles of driving. We took an 800 mile trip last month and I added 1/3 quart at the half way mark and more when I got home. I change my oil every 7000 miles because I add so much oil between changes.... The engine has 75,000 miles on it. A intake manifold cleaning should probably be done every 50,000 miles.

 

I have a 2011, N18 engine so it has sort of a built-in catch can in the valve cover. I changed my PVC flapper and changed my oil to Pennzoil Full Synth European 5w 30. The oil burn looks to be a little less but still burning a lot. I went 600 miles and just added about 1/3 quart. I may try a 0w 40 European oil type next. I have heard going to a w-40 will help.

 

My n12 is doing about that now after addressing the crankcase seal, valve cover breather leak and timing chain bolt leaks. I have not done the “flapper” but will at some point. BTW I use 5w/40 Castrol Syn.

 

Mini-is-for-me, Is it as easy as it looks to replace that flapper?

 

Yes, very easy. It is a bit scary getting the "2nd tab off". 1st tab is very easy. That second tab you are afraid you are going to break something and it is easy to do. Then home free.

 

I’m not sure what normal is, but my N14 burns about .5-1.0 quarts ever 1k miles. It has 132k on the clock and I’m running Belgian Castrol 0w-40. I do have a leaking housing gasket, though. So I can’t be sure if it’s one or the other or equal parts burn/leak.

also I think my valve cover needs replacing soon. Ugh!

 

Replacing my PCV value has significantly reduced my oil disappearing. I am now about 1Quart for every 2K+ miles. So it has at least cut in half. The only thing I did was replace the PCV rubber in the valve cover.

 

i didn’t know this was possible. I was under impression you had to replace entire cover. Did you have to remove it still?

 

No I didn't have to remove mine. It depends on what engine you have.

 

I have the N14. I’m assuming this is on an N18?

 

Yes, I have an N18. There are some engines that have a normal PCV and there are some engines that have a non serviceable PCV in the cover. I think you are SOL with the N14.

https://www.ecstuning.com/b-uro-part...127646555~uro/

 

The heavy oil consumption for N14 most likely coming from the a failed PCV system found in the valve cover. Replace the valve cover and watch your oil consumption go down.

-Kevin

 

Yes, I can now confirm that oil consumption is directly linked to the PCV. If it is worn, it will at least double your oil consumption. Also that oil has to be going some where, so my guess is this is one of the primary contributors to premature coking of the intake. Mini seems to believe that the PCV valve like the timing chain guides made out of plastic will last forever. Danke Deutsch, bitte ein Bier

 

I have an '09 MCS 85k miles (N14). I replaced my valve cover at 70k miles because of a bad PCV (stupid engineering!), and it's not cheap.

However, I can report that I change my oil about every 7500 miles, and my oil consumption is near zero. Definitely negligible. I'm sure that the new PCV helps. I'm not an oil ****, so I don't care what oil you use, but as a point of information, I used to run Castrol 0W-40 (which was a good oil), and now I use Liqui-Moly 5W-30. I take advantage of FCPEuro's free oil replacement. Not a plug, just thought you might want to know.

 

I replaced my valve cover with the one off Ebay, the part was $57 and took 35-40 minutes to replace. Very happy with the result.

-Kevin

 

Well I'm not getting that good of oil consumption it appears but it is better.
I'm going about 1/2 quart for every 1000-1500 miles. So that is about 1/2 as much oil as before but it is still pretty high. I actually was told that going to a 0w-40 will reduce oil consumption to because you have an oil that can go hotter but I figured that would be better as a "summer" oil to try and my next change.